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ConstructsPamela Jean Burg

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ROCHESTER INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of

The College of Fine and Applied Arts

in Candidacy for the Degree of

MASTER OF FINE ARTS

CONSTRUCTS

by

Pamela Jean Burg

June 15, 1982

APPROVALS

Advisor: Donald Bujnowski Date: 16 /:2, ,/;-2-. ,I Associate Advisor: -------------------------------

Date: --------------------------

Associate Advisor: -------------------------------

Date: -------------------------

Special Assistant

~~a~~:t~e:~f~~~s: Philip W. Bornarth ---------------------------------------Da te : __ -.l<~~-+------I6L..!S...~____t_, --!-1.p"L7Jt.-=----

Dean, College of R b t H J h t Ph D Fine & Applied Arts: 0 er . 0 ns on ..

Date: 0fYJ ~3 »)g8"c..

I, Pamela Jean Burg, hereby grant permission to the Wallace Memorial Library of RIT, to reproduce my thesis in whole or in part. Any reproduction will not be for commercial use or profit. Pamela Jean Burg Date:

APPROVALS

Advisor: Donald Bujnowski --------------------------------------------~--

Date: /2/2./0 IlL--Associate AdJiSO~: Name Illegible

Date=&JA1=r I 1412 . Associate Advisor: Name illegible

Graduate Academic Council

Date // /to/P Represen tati ve : ________________________________________ _

Date: ------------------------------------

I, Pamela Jean Burg, hereby grant permission to the Wal­lace Memorial Library, of R.I.T., to reproduce my thesis in whole or in part. Any reproduction will not be for commercial use or profit.

Date: June 15, 1982 Pamela J. Burg

The purpose of this thesis is to make constructions

which are derived from familiar forms: e.g. quilts, table

cloths, bags, and boxes. The feelings and connotations

associated with these forms will be contrasted with the

imagery that make up each form. Methods of working with

monofilament, color Xerox, plexiglass, epoxy resins, and

handmade paper will be explored.

PREFACE

The written portion of the thesis begins with a hypo

thetical statement describing the sequence of both crea

tive and conceptual development of the thesis work. Terms

within that hypothesis are then defined. My three major

areas of concern are next established. They are "form",

"personal orientations", and "fabrics". Within these

major headings, subheadings are defined and developed.

The hypothesis and definitions provide an outline of the

process. Further in the paper, my influences through a

review of literature are cited. This is followed by a

description and discussion of each work displayed in the

thesis exhibition. The last portion of my thesis focuses

on a final discussion and conclusion.

IV

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ILLUSTRATIONS

PREFACE

Chapter

I. INTRODUCTION

Hypothesis

Definitions

II. INFLUENCES: A REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Decorative Arts as

Related to Fine Arts

Miriam Schapiro

Luis Barragan

III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Curtain

Construct No. II: Carton Complex .

Construct No. Ill: Tiles

IV. CONCLUSION

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Page

m

IV

1

2

12

12

13

17

20

21

24

26

29

32

n

ILLUSTRATIONS

Figure Page

I. Miriam Schapiro, A Cabinet for

Summer , 1974 15

II. Luis Barragan, House for Luis

Barragan, 1947 18

III. Curtain, 1981 22

IV. Construct No. II: Carton Complex, 1981 . 25

V. Construct No. Ill: Tiles, 1981 28

in

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Hypothesis

While describing the intimate yet complex relation

between content and structure of modern art and the social

context within which it had come into being, Meyer Scha

piro commented, "... The picture is not a rendering of

external objects.... but the objects assembled in the

picture come from an experience and interests which affect

the formal character."1 In support of such rationale, the

work in this thesis reflects my intense and personal

orientations to textiles and to architectural spaces.

These feelings are projected into a specific format: a

paper and acetate collage yielding fabric-like qualities.

A formula or hypothesis was used to prescribe the direc

tion of the reaction which took place while working on the

thesis. Stated as:

1 Linda Nochlin, "Feminism and Formal Inovation in

the Work of MiriamSchapiro,"

in Miriam Schapiro: A

Retrospective, 1953-1980, ed. Thalia"

Gouma-Peterson

(Wooster, Ohio: The College of Wooster, 1980), p. 23.

FORM + PERSONAL ORIENTATIONS = FABRICS

(Collage) (Textiles and (Paper and Acetate

Interior Spaces) Constructions)

this equation allows for those factors, experience and

interests, to which Meyer referred. The understanding of

these factors, along with the supporting reference mater

ial substantiate my intentions concerning my thesis work.

Definitions

In order to understand each factor within the equa

tion, definitions of terms are required. The definitions

incorporate a general explanation and also a personal

interpretation which allow the reader to understand my

personal connotations of a term or an idea. The order in

which the terms are introduced follows the sequence of

their appearance in the hypothesis. Thus, a sequence of

the thought processes I went through while formulating

this thesis will become evident to the reader as the terms

of the reaction are defined.

Form

Form is "the manner in which the artist presents his

subject matter or content in creating a work of art. Form

is the product of the artist's organization, design, com-

position and manipulation ofmaterials."2

Collage was the

form used to present the ideas of my thesis work.

Collage

Collage is a term (from the French, collor, meaning

to paste or stick) for a technique consisting of cutting

and pasting natural or manufactured materials on a painted

or unpaintedsurface.3

"Collage evolved out of papiers

colles, a nineteenth century 'art recreation'

in which

decorative designs were made with pasted pieces of colored

paper."4

It was first employed by Pablo Picasso and

George Braque about 1912-1913 when they began to incor

porate into their Cubist paintings a wide variety of

"prosaic"materials (newspaper clippings, tickets, folded

paper, pieces of wood and glass, wire, sand, etc.) select

ed primarily because they offered new mediums with which

to represent planes andtextures.5 The insertion of frag

ments from visual realism into increasingly abstract

cubist paintings was part of the artist's concern with the

central problem: what is illusion and what is reality?

2 Ralph Mayer, A Dictionary of Art Terms and Tech

niques (New York: Barnes and Noble Books, 1969), p. 152.

3 The Britannica Encyclopedia of American Art, 1973

ed. , s.v."Collage,"

by H.H. Arnason.

4Mayer, op. cit. , p. 83.

5 Ibid.

Is reality in the eye of the spectator? Or is it the

absolute of the canvas?"6

Later, the Dadaists and Sur

realists began to combine such materials on the basis of

their connotative and associative values.

Thus, a piece of reality- -which usually reflect

ed some aspect of the 'civilized' world--entered

into the work of art, where it fulfilled a dual

function: on the one hand it existed in its own

right as a representative element of the real

world, whilst on the other hand it was used as a

formal element within the total composition.

But the essential quality of the collage--and

this is true in all cases--was its tendency to

break the bonds of the traditional two-dimen

sional painting, thus creating a spatial or

environmental painting or sculpture. Over and

above this, of course, the collage technique

enabled the artist to introduce elements of

social criticism and to make direct statements

on the current politicalsituation.7

Once collage represented a novel means of picture making,

but it has since been accepted and adopted by representa

tives of almost every major art movement of the twentieth

century, and is, therefore, no longer unusual.8

Personal Orientations

Personal orientations refers to my attitudes and

interests based on a wide variety of factors specific to

6Arnason, op. cit.

7 Phaidon Dictionary of Twentieth-Century Art, 1973

ed. ,s.v.

"Collage."

8 McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Art, 1969 ed. , s.v. "Col

lage."

me: genetic coding, upbringing, education, environmental

factors, luck, etc. Two topics, textiles and interior

architectural spaces, stemming from my personal orien

tations, are addressed in my thesis work.

Textiles

From traditional and ethnic fabrics to contemporary

"materials", I have always been interested in textiles,

the people who did the making, the processes and the pro

ducts. To narrow the immense history of textiles to a

managable issue for consideration in this thesis, I chose

to concentrate on the topic of pieced quilts: the quilt

ing tradition, the technique and those who practiced the

art.

Quilts

Quilts are objects of aesthetic value and expressive

significance... artifacts which express not only the lives

and skills and tastes of women, but also their undauntable

will tocreate.9 Pieced quilts were considered utilitar

ian and represented the everyday bedcover. They were made

by sewing small, straight-edged bits of fabric together to

9 Norma Broude, "Miriam Schapiro and 'Femmage':

Reflections on the Conflict between Decoration and Ab

straction in Twentieth CenturyArt,"

in Miriam Schapiro:

A Retrospective, 1953-1980, ed. Thalia Gouma-Peterson

TWooster, Ohio: The College of Wooster, 1980), p. 35.

form an overall patternedtop.10

Fabrics were sometimes

saved for a generation before they were used in quilt-

making; thus a single quilt might incorporate textiles of

different periods. Sometimes a woman spent years on a

single quilt, piecing together fabrics with highly per

sonal associations: a scrap of mother's wedding dress, a

bit of calico from India, or a special gift from a rela

tive. Patterns were passed down from mother to daughter

and circulated from one household to another. Pieced

blocks might represent a gift for a special occasion, or

symbolize historical events, native flora and fauna, fron

tier life, simple country humor or a waste not, want not

attitude.11

Pieced quilts or fabric collage served as a

personal diary for the maker, while on a large scale,

quilts document the values and events of past times.

Interior Architectural Spaces

In addition to pieced quilts, there is another per

sonal orientation I have introduced to my thesis work:

interior architectural spaces. For whatever reason, I

have found myself clinging to the memories of spaces,

rooms, buildings, corners and closets which I have lived

10 Robert Bishop, New Discoveries in American Quilts

(New York: E.P. Dutton and Company, 1975) , p. 8.

11 Paula Bradley, "Placing Women in History: Miriam

Schapiro's Fan and Vestiture

Series,"Arts Magazine 53

(February 1979): 149.

in, visited, saw once, saw everyday or only dreamed about.

In my mind, the myriad of emotions evoked by these memor

ies were compared and contrasted with the coldness and

impersonal repetition of the architecture of an anonymous

city.

Fabric

Fabric is any cloth produced by joining fibers as by

knitting, weaving orfelting.12 Fabric is a general tex

tile term embracing the gamut of clothes, rugs, carpets,

tapestries, mattings, canings,etc.13

Though special

fabrics have been produced for very specific needs, in a

general way, they serve as clothing, shelter, utensils and

art. Utilitarian as well as aesthetic needs determine

color, texture, pattern, construction technique and mater

ials. While one cloth may be considered an heirloom,

another is a rag. We have a multitude of specific feel

ings and associations about the fabrics that are part of

our everyday environment.

12 The American Heritage Dictionary of the English

Language7~1971 ed. ,s.v.

"fabric."

13 Jack Lenor Larsen and Jeanne Weeks, Fabrics for

Interiors : A Guide for Architects, Designers, and Con

sumers (New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, 1975) ,

p. 137.

8

Paper and Acetate Constructions

Paper and acetate constructions were the direct re

sults of this thesis and the objective of my hypothesis.

The constructions are meant to be fabrics with the purpose

of conveying a sense about my "personal orientations":

textiles, pieced quilts and interior architectural spaces.

While making these fabrics, I went through a similar deci

sion making process that every textile maker has been

through. However, considerations about material, process

and form were the most integral in defining my personal

orientations .

Materials

Paper and acetate were the chosen materials to com

plete the thesis work. Unlike fiber (cotton, linen, wool,

silk and synthetics) which has a history and specific

association to textiles, paper and acetate have few or no

weighty connotations in regards to textiles. Having so

completely saturated our contemporary society in the form

of disposable containers, much of the value associated

with wrapping materials is placed not on the materials at

all, but on what they contain and/or what they protect.

Paper and acetate are inexpensive and readily available.

Not high in monetary value and, at times, because of over

abundance, these waste materials can be a nuisance. But

they provide the artist with an easy to obtain, anonymous

substance, from which artistic and conceptual expression

may grow.

Form

Traditionally, tapestries have assumed a flat planar

form, exhibiting picturesque illusionism within their

borders. The art object made of fiber has evolved from

flat fabrics for interior spaces and apparel, 1940 's, to

"the new tapestry": fiber sculpture and three dimensional

reliefs, 1960 's.14 Currently, 1980 's,:

Most artists... don't see themselves as belonging to a group. Their art is more personal,sometimes autobiographical. Psychological is

sues, intellectual concerns and personal visions

are the concepts related through fiber as an art

form. The scale varies from miniature to monu

mental; however, the tendency is to relate the

viewer and environment on a more intimate basis.

Works are becoming less physically dimensional

and more involved with visual illusions. Bold,

heavy textures have been replaced with subtle

complex color and textural relationships. Fiber

as a sensuous material no longer seduces the

artist or viewer. Thinner yarns and current

"hightech"

materials reflect an accelerated

technology andculture.15

For my thesis work, a carton form was utilized to

express my personal attitudes towards interior architec

tural spaces. Not unlike the design of many contemporary

14 Naomi Whiting Towner, Filaments of the Imagination,

Judith C. Brooks, curator (Honolulu, Hawaii: The Univer-

sity of Hawaii Art Gallery, 1981), p. 6-7.

15Ibid., p. 7.

10

housing complexes, the flat graphic form of an unfolded

carton is a product of a cost/effect conscious industry.

The carton form acknowledges its capacity to interlock not

only with itself, but also to dovetail with the next form

down the line. The results are maximum yield with minimum

waste. While advertising product information, the flat

form alludes to its function as a three dimensional en

casement with strength and integrity. Beyond the affili

ation with twentieth century industry, the container form

typifies many associations. It is linked to female imag

ery, as well as the house, home and interior and exterior

architectural spaces. Shapes and patterned surfaces spe

cific to certain packages imply ideas and disclose the

contents held within. Though dismissed as a disposable

wrapper, the carton may be what the pieced quilt was to

past eras: an artifact of the twentieth century, a

descriptive device speaking to future generations about

our culture, the materials and technology at hand, and

societal values.

Process

The process of sewing to make a fabric is of primary

importance to my thesis work. The juxtaposition of ma

terials (acetate and paper) to process (applique and

quiltmaking) was essential for creating the suggestion of

a quilt. Initially, I entertained thoughts of painted or

11

printed surfaces--or pasted collage. However, the use of

and reliance on a base strata for structural soundness

seemed to deny the structure of the process and the

strength of the materials. By sewing matched edges, com

ponent parts play an integral role of supporting each

other while also producing a slightly prismatic, quilted

plane. The additive, rather than sub tractive, sculptural

process was employed to construct a fabric which displays

an inseparable yet unlikely association of materials to

process.

The utilization of Xeroxed materials demonstrates

another portion of the work's intent. With the push of a

button, the unique, special and rare qualities of a favor

ite scrap e.g. delicate embroidery or perhaps, hand

crocheted doily, are captured and duplicated a multitude

of times. Through the use of the Xerox machine, the per

sonal and uncommon, can be made accessible to all.

12

CHAPTER II

INFLUENCES: A REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Decorative Arts as Related to Fine Arts

As art in the twentieth century became increasingly

abstract, artists and critics struggled to create a clear

distinction between the abstract and the merely decora

tive. In order to define and maintain the position of

abstract art as "highart"

, its supporters were compelled

to fight off the stigma of association with so-called "low

art", that was defined as "the decorative and often domes

tic handicraft production of commercial artists, women,

lower class, peasants andsavages."

But despite the

declarations and manifestos which have worked to deny the

status of the decorative, art historians of late have

become increasingly aware of the crucial role decorative

art and decorative impulses have played in the formation

and emergence of some of the major modernist styles of the

early twentieth century. For example, it is now generally

recognized that Art Nouveau and the Jugendstil arts and

crafts movement, stemming from late nineteenth century

Symbolist thought, provided the basis and stimulation for

artists such as Henri Matisse and Wassily Kandinsky, as

well as the segment of twentieth century artists who work

13

to "convey content and meaning through abstract andnon-

representational forms."To be art, according to Kandin

sky,non-

representational forms must have meaning. They

have to "call forth vibrations of the spirit", or risk

deterioration into what he called "mere decoration".16

Both Kandinsky and Matisse borrowed from the decor

ative arts, but the influences of decoration were sub

merged and transformed by being placed within another

context. For example, fabrics were painted on canvas and

cut and pasted papers imitated the look but never the

methods of the lowly crafts. Both of these twentieth

century artists borrowed from the decorative and applied

arts to create yet another form of high art.

Miriam Schapiro

Like Kandinsky and Matisse, American artist and fem

inist, Miriam Schapiro has taken the product of craft and

transported it, through contextual change into the realm

of high art, but with one difference. When Schapiro in

corporates craft into a high art context, she does not

treat her sources as borrowings to be transformed. Unlike

Matisse and Kandinsky, she does not transform her mater

ials in an effort to disassociate them from their original

character. Instead, she reveals them (fabrics, knicks

knacks, hand work, etc.) as objects of aesthetic value and

16Broude, op. cit. ,

p. 7.

14

expressive significance (see Figure I). She brings forth

Kandinsky 's call for "powerful and meaningful embodiment

of the human spirit" by presenting artifacts which express

not only the lives and skills and tastes of women, but

also their undismayed will to create.Schapiro'

s works

with their social and political as well as aesthetic mes

sage are "significant abstractions" and not "mere decora

tions".

In her recent work, Schapiro shapes the multiple

implications of patchwork to a variety of formal and ex

pressive ends. Femmage, her format, is a term she uses to

describe the activity practiced for centuries by women who

used traditional craft techniques such as sewing, piecing,

hooking, quilting and applique. It is a variant on col

lage; "pictures assembled from assorted materials...,

describes an activity with an ancienthistory".17

Collage

has in the past, forced a testing of previously estab

lished structures of form and content by confronting the

supreme aesthetic value of the canvas with the aesthetic

non-value of newspaper or oilcloth, ticket stubs, waste

paper, rubber tires or fabric scraps. Too often, the

implications of collage materials as a meaningful content,

activated rather than suppressed by its new content, have

beenneglected.18

17Ibid., p. 34.

18Nochlin, op. cit. ,

p. 20.

15

Figure I. Miriam Schapiro, A Cabinet for Summer, 1974

from Miriam Schapiro: A Restrospective, 1953-1980 edited

by Thalia Gouma-Peterson (Wooster, Ohio: The College

of Wooster, 1980), p. 65.

16

The extensive use of fabric swatches, patchwork and

embroidery, as both formal and iconographical elements in

Schapiro 's femmages, is part of her conscious effort to

re-establish her connections with this older and more

authentic tradition with which she as an artist and fem

inist identifies. Miriam Schapiro travels around the

country and asks women she has just met to contribute a

souvenir, a handkerchief, an apron to be recycled in her

work. When speaking about the feminist tradition, Scha

piro says: "We are Lavenia Fontana's lace, Artemeia Gen-

tileschis'

self-portrait and Marguerite Zorach's needle

work."

She continues: "The connection reaches across

centuries, linking the signed with the anonymous, fine art

with folk art, preserving and mingling the experiences

throughcollaboration."19

From her discussion on the waste not, want not tra

dition of women who assembled collages (quilts, valentines

and scrapbooks), Schapiro creates her femmages. The

linens and embroideries she has collected were, for those

who made them, a means of social identification, offering

some sense of security and place. She arranges them to

allow for a dialogue to occur between the original pat

terns of the fabrics and the paint marks Schapiro applies

19Mary Stoffle, "Miriam

Schapiro,"Arts Magazine 51

(May 1977): 12.

17

to their surface. "Patterns and intermittent touches of

paint produce palimpsests", like a tablet that is written

on again after the original writing is erased, "that medi

ate feminist concerns, formalist issues, and decorative

elements."20

The fabric bears a social message, tran

scending its function, but not its identity, in order to

comment on its origin.

Luis Barragan

As stated before, one of my personal orientations has

to do with the idea of interior architectural spaces. To

me, the sight of simple corners, doorways, and floors

intersecting with walls merging with ceilings brings forth

memories of the past and also projections to the future.

In a pursuit to satisfy the public's forgotten psychic

needs for beauty, magic and silence, Mexican architect,

Luis Barragan has been highly influential to the aesthetic

considerations of this thesis. The hallmarks of his work

are privacy and intimacy. His houses, serene, poetic and

focusing inward, offer the possibility for an interior

life (see Figure II). Relying on memory to trigger the

experience, Barragan gives one or two of his architectural

elements exaggerated dimension and presence that create a

20 Janet Kardon, Catalogue Essay to The Decorative

Impulse (University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia: In

stitute of Contemporary Art, 1979), p. 14.

Figure II. Luis Barragan, House for Luis Barragan,Tacu-

baya Mexico, 1947 from The Architecture of Luis Barragan

by Emilio Ambasz (New York: The Museum of Modern Art,

1976), p. 35.

19

surreal and hypnotically compelling environment. For

example, his graceful stairway of cantilevered pine boards

without railings, leads to a door that is always closed,

and "although the stair is very sturdy, its visual deli

cacy is such that to ascend it would seem possible only if

gradual weightlessness was achieved".21 Like many other

admirer's of Surrealism, Barragan has been fascinated by

the dream- like quality solitary architectural spaces can

acquire. Barragan 's rooms are "magical places for medi

tation from a lifelongmemory".22

In a process of further

abstraction, the mass of Barragan 's architecture is con

densed into planes. "Thus a part comes to stand for the

whole; the wall becomes the surrogate for the rooms...,

and the life these rooms once housed--a child playing on

the floor, a woman pedaling on her sewing machine, the

smoke of darkened kitchens--seem now to dwell as unseen

presences behind thesewalls."23 Luis Barragan is an

architect of seclusion who represents serenity in a noisy

world. He states: "Solitude is good company and my archi

tecture is not for those who fear or shun it... Art is

made by the alone for thealone."24

21 Emilio Ambasz, The Architecture of Luis Barragan

(New York: The Museum oFHodern Art, 19/671 P- 33.

22 A.T. Baker, "Mexico's Master of Serenity: Luis

Barragan Wins His Profession's RichestPrize,"

Time 115

(May 12, 1980): 50.

23Ambasz, op. cit. , p. 107.

24Baker, op. cit. ,

p. 50.

20

CHAPTER III

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Three works comprise the substance of my thesis:

Curtain, Construct No. 2: Carton Complex, and Construct

No. 3: Tiles. The conceptual considerations of my thesis

work are embodied in the notions of pieced quilts and

architectural spaces. I am influenced by the values and

graphic quality represented by quilts. Quilts reflect the

history of women's roles and activities, the concern for

craftmanship, and the idea of individual creativity;

whether naive or well-studied. Another conceptual aspect

of my thesis work is the contrast between my definition of

interior architectural spaces (which allows for individual

identity) , and the cold impersonality of modern housing

complexes which provide little chance for variation and

individual uniqueness. The formal presentation of these

concepts is manifested in the form of a pieced quilt which

contains perspective drawings of interior architectural

spaces. The tradition of the pieced quilt was put in a

new context by making aquilt- like construction from non-

traditional materials: i.e. paper and acetate. The per

spective drawings were infused within delineated, repeat-

designs similar to the layout of modular housing projects.

21

Each of the three constructions employs a different

pattern. "Patterns in general are the systematic repeti

tion of a motif or motifs used to cover a surface uniform

ly. The spaces between motifs are either other motifs or

are an integral part of the repeat."25

In all three of my

constructions, pattern provides spatial organization upon

which the drawings of interior spaces play. In a second

way pattern represents a fabric: i.e. both the structure

of construction and the overall surface design. The con

notation a fabric might yield is determined by the colors

and type of pattern employed. For example, in Curtain,

the colors are pastel and the pattern is a simple repe

tition of a diamond shape. Thus, this particular paper

and acetate fabric assumes similar connotations to that of

fabric used for decorating a bathroom or bedroom.

Curtain

The intent of the first construct, Curtain, is to

evoke memories of sheer curtains and the atmosphere they

create, suggest the illusion of empty, lonely, interior

architectural spaces and acknowledge some of the materials

common to twentieth century American culture. Curtain is

a two dimensional modular construction (see Figure III).

25 John Perreault, "Issues in Pattern Painting," Art-

forum 16 (November 1977): 36.

22

Figure III. Curtain, 30 in. x 50 in. x \\ in., 1981

23

Each module is a rectangle made of paper and transparent

acetate and is decorated in two ways. First, there are

perspective drawings of interior architectural spaces in

the center of each module; and second, a pattern of

diagonal pink lines which decorate the edges of each

module. The modules are sewn together. They constitute a

semi- flat, undulating surface, i.e. in essence, a"fabric"

patterned by a repeating motif.

Curtain may be discerned on two structural levels.

The macrostructure of Curtain displays a patterned surface

of repeating diamond shapes, modest in detail. Visually

light weight, the overall pastel coloration in combination

with the semi -transparency of the plane suggest the feel

ing of a veil or sheer curtain. The lightness of the

"fabric"is visually reinforced. As light passes through

the semi-transparent plane, shadows are produced which

interact with the imagery on the original surface. Upon

inspection of the microstructure, one realizes there are

breaks in the patterned surface which reveal small, de

tailed and brightly colored perspective drawings of inter

ior architectural spaces. These drawings also produce

another pattern but it is closer, tighter, more concen

trated than the overall pattern of the "fabric". What is

perceived from the macrostructure as a fabric- like plane,

(light in color, pattern and illusionary content), now

becomes denser in color, pattern and suggests illusionary

24

depth. A sense of contrast is created between the spatial

effects of the perspective drawings and the overall sur

face of the patterned, light colored "fabric". Curtain

becomes both a"fabric"

and an architectural structure with

rooms inside.

Construct No. 2: Carton Complex

Construct No. 2: Carton Complex employs a basic

unfolded carton shape as a repeating structural unit which

is fabric-like and has architectural implications (see

Figure IV) . Composed of rectangular panels and folding

flaps, each carton shape takes on visual qualities similar

to a quilt motif. The clearly delineated periphery of

each carton shape interlocks with that of its neighbor.

An integrated plane representing carton shapes is created.

Unfolded, the shape alludes to the fact that it could be

fashioned into a carton-like object (a structure with a

top, bottom and sides), not unlike an interior architec

tural space.

In Construct No. 2: Carton Complex, a contrast is

created between the exterior carton shape, projecting from

a background surface; and the interior perspective draw

ings, receding into the background surface. The exterior

edges of each carton shape are brightly colored and boldly

patterned. This gives the dynamic effect of the object

projecting out into space. Each of the rectangular panels

25

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26

within each carton shape incorporates a frame. Looking

through the frames, illusions of interior architectural

spaces are revealed. These are general depictions of

corners, walls, floors and ceilings, all components of a

carton. Though some of the drawings fold out, away from

the flat background surface, most are flat, and all are

deliberately static in feeling. This immobile feeling,

coupled with colors and patterns softer than the flaps of

the carton shape, help to create spatial illusion. A

network of cavities is created. The cavities are held

within the outlined structure of the carton shape. Inside

this structure, paper and acetate perspective drawings

suggest the corners of empty rooms. At the same time, the

drawings are subtle enough for the viewer to be captured

by the play of pattern on the total fabric -like surface.

Construct No. 3: Tiles

Decoration offers a multitude of prototypes which are

generated from surprisingly few pattern modes. At the

heart of decoration lies the omnipresentgrid.26

Grid

motifs, generated by different cultures, reflect habits of

perception, even cultural patterns, that might lead us to

an anthropology of decoration. "To Western perceptions

some types of decoration are, if looked at at all,unread-

26 Ibid.

27

able. In the intricacies of Islamic repetition for

instance, Western eyes search for reassurance of an indi

vidual's presence, a frustrating habit to bring to an art

form in which that concept of the individual is vertially

missing."27

Not unlike Islamic patterns, heavy and tightly

entwined, Construct No. 3: Tiles is a graphic delineation

of a carton shape imposed upon a regular grid system (see

Figure V). A tight, highly ordered screen is created.

Beyond this point, further similarities to traditional,

Islamic patterns can not be made. Construct No. 3: Tiles

depicts interior architectural spaces within the screen

grid. The boldly colored perspective drawings (inferring

the presence of individuals), are suspended both in front

of and behind the screen's open grid work. A sense of

visual density and conceptual complexity is created. This

represents all living complexes, all habitats. Inter

jecting perspective drawings is a deliberate attempt to

infiltrate the Islamic tradition where the tiled walls

allow no individual identification, and where there is no

concept of the individual. Although there is no direct

reference to the human form in the perspective drawings,

there is a reference to the spaces which shelter indivi

duals; the private architectural units that men create.

27Mayer, op.cit. , p. 84,

28

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29

CHAPTER IV

CONCLUSION

The intention of my thesis work is to make a fine-art

statement which employs a reference to the textile arts

and my personal associations with interior spaces. The

work grows from the tradition of woven textiles that are

pieced and appliqued to form patterned surfaces. The

"fabric"is constructed of inexpensive paper and acetate,

materials commonly utilized for contemporary disposable

containers. The imagery of the"fabric"

incorporates bold

patterns and subtle suggestions of architectural spaces.

Each thesis work is a construct; a general idea or con

cept, synthesized in the mind by combining historical and

contemporary information.

The work is not without technical difficulties.

There are two problems which need resolution for improving

the presentation. The first is inherent in the materials

which comprise the "fabric". Similar to collages of the

past, which were constructed with inappropriate glues or

with pulp paper and materials with fugative colors, my

thesis work is susceptible to rapid deterioration. The

use of intricate and fragile elements preclude cleaning.

In essence, the"fabrics"

are not archival. Most contem-

30

porary artists use a polymer medium as a collage adhesive

and give their works a protective coating of mat polymer

medium.27

I have had limited exposure to that solution; I

have not found polymer medium applicable to the process or

aesthetic of my work. Another problem is that the work is

framed. The frame acts as a protective device which helps

to preserve the fabrics. This conservation effort separ

ates the work from direct contact with environmental ele

ments (dirt, dust, sunlight, accidental ripping) which

would hasten deterioration. But within the frame, each

work loses some of the intended fabric-like qualities.

There is less revelation of the transparent qualities of

the "fabrics". Being less accessible to the viewer, the

work seems more precious, an unintended attribute. Also,

the mat board within the frame acts as a base surface on

which to apply the work. But it is not intended to be

part of the work. Therefore, the question arises: if it

is not an integral part of the work--is the mat board

necessary?

Through the writing process, I have verbalized, cate

gorized and delineated three points: (1) the topic for

consideration, (2) specific conceptual concerns, and

(3) elements which communicate concepts. Some elements of

my work are structural (interlocking sewn shapes), some

are aesthetic (color), and some are conceptual (interior

architectural spaces). In retrospect, two topics are

31

interwoven throughout the discussion of the work. The

first is macrostructure which represents a need for over

all structure. The second is microstructure which signi

fies a need for detail. These necessities of my creative

approach were superimposed on two of my personal orienta

tions: (1) fabric and (2) interior architectural spaces.

Fabric demonstrates an overall macrostructure, a gestalt.

But it also has a microstructure which can provide concep

tual content. Interior architectural spaces, as described

before, hold many personal associations for me (loneli

ness, security, self-expression, memories). On another

level, interior spaces seem to fit into larger structures,

such as: mass housing suburbia and city planning. These

are ideas which have become clearer to me through writing

my thesis and provide a basis from which I am working now.

32

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Ambasz, Emilio. The Architecture of Luis Barragan. New

York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1976.

The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language ,

1971 ed. S.v."fabric."

Baker, A.T. "Mexico's Master of Serenity: Luis Barragan

Wins His Profession's RichestPrize,"

Time, May 12,

1980, p. 50.

Bishop, Robert. New Discoveries in American Quilts. New

York: E.P. Dutton and Company, Inc., 1975.

Bradley, Paula. "Placing Women in History: Miriam Scha

piro 's Fan and VestitureSeries,"

Arts Magazine,

February 1979, pp. 148-149.

The Britannica Encyclopedia of American Art, 1973 ed.

S.v."Collage,"

by H.H. Arnason.

Broude, Norma. "Miriam Schapiro and 'Femmage': Reflec

tions on the Conflict between Decoration and Abstrac

tion in Twentieth CenturyArt."

In Miriam Schapiro:

A Retrospective, 1953-1980, pp. 31-38. Edited by

Thalia Gouma-Peterson. Wooster, Ohio: The College

of Wooster, 1980.

Kardon, Janet. Catalogue Essay to The Decorative Impulse,

pp. 3-18. University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia:

Institute of Contemporary Art, 1979.

Larsen, Jack Lenor, and Weeks, Jeanne.Fabrics for Inter

iors : A Guide for Architects, Designers, andCon-

jjj^rs. "New Yor"kT Van Nostrand Reinhold Company,

1975.

Mayer, Ralph. A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques.

(New York: Barnes and Noble Books, 1981.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Art, 1969 ed. S.v."Collage."

Nochlin, Linda. "Feminism and Formal Inovation in the

Work of MiriamSchapiro." In Miriam Schapiro: A

Retrospective, 1953-1980, pp. T^T. Edited by

Thalia Gouma-Peterson. Wooster, Ohio: The College

of Wooster, 1980.

33

Perreault, John. "Issues in Pattern Painting,"Art forum,

November 1977, pp. 32-36.

Phaidon Dictionary of Twentieth-Century Art, 1973 ed.

S.v."Collage."

Stoffle, Mary. "Miriam Schapiro,"Arts Magazine, May

1977, p. 12.

Towner, Naomi Whiting. Filaments of the Imagination,

pp. 4-7. Edited by Judith C. Brooks. Honolulu,

Hawaii: The University of Hawaii Art Gallery, 1981.